The Food Guy

Tunisian

Tunisian cuisine is a blend of Mediterranean and desert dwellers' culinary traditions. Its distinctive spicy fieriness comes from neighboring countries and the many civilizations which have ruled the land now known as Tunisia: Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Turkish, French and the native Berber people. Many of the cooking styles and utensils began to take shape when the ancient tribes were nomads. Nomadic people were limited in their cooking implements by what pots and pans they could carry with them. A tagine, for example, is actually the name for a pot with a conical lid, although today the same word is applied to what is cooked in it. Pork consumption is forbidden in accordance with Sharia, religious laws of Islam.